Don’t Be Scared. Though
24th Street may become overrun with wildly costumed diminutive dancers
(and even demons) demanding sugar on Oct. 31, do not panic. Look for a
moment when they’re pausing for re-hydration, and like our brave
photographer, shoot away! 2009
Photo by Pamela Gerard

Halloween Fair Foretells New Spirit at Upper Noe Rec Center

By Heather World

Budget
cuts
are
scary, but they’re no match for the ghosts and ghouls who will fill
Upper Noe Recreation Center at its first Halloween Fun Fair Sunday,
Oct. 31,
one of many events the park’s newly invigorated community partner hopes
to
hold.

Children,
dogs,
and
their parents are invited to enjoy the carnival atmosphere from 11
a.m. to 3 p.m. Treats like cotton candy and popcorn will be for sale,
but the
rest of the event is free, says AlexandraTorre,
who
has
led the host group Friends of Noe Valley Recreation Center for the
past
six years.

In
addition
to
Halloween-themed activities like face-painting and costume parades,
organizers plan to have games on the field like sack races and target
practice
(weather permitting), as well as indoor games like musical chairs,
Torre says.
Roving musicians will keep things lively.

“It
would
be
great to see 200 people there,” Torre says. “We’re hoping that
bringing these events will generate more community interest and
involvement.”

That
involvement
will
soon be necessary to influence programming as well as
Friends-sponsored activities at the center. In August, a Recreation and
Park
Department reorganization centralized program planning.

Site
scheduling
has
been left to a slimmed-down staff guided by “community
recreation councils” made up of seven area residents, including one
youth.
Details remain hazy, but a department spokesman said the councils
should be in
place by March and will most likely meet monthly. Community
organizations will
play a key role in determining who will serve on the local council, he
said.

Joe
Scott
is
Upper Noe’s new facility coordinator, the staffer responsible for
all
site programming and for convening the panel. “We’ll draw a one-mile
radius
around this facility, reach out to the public, and let them know what
we’re
doing,” he says.

Whatever
is
chosen
will be taught be part-time “recreation professionals who are
expert
in their field,” according to a press release by Rec and Park General
Manager
Phil Ginsburg.

In
keeping
with
the new model, what was once Upper Noe’s staff of four that
coached, taught, and supervised is now Scott, who manages day-to-day
operations,
and Rex Biteng, whose primary job at Rec and Park is to coordinate the
city’s
waterfront sports. The two men have overlapping hours to keep the
center open
as much as possible, but even so Upper Noe will be open only Tuesday
through
Saturday. Friends has been lobbying the city to open it up on Sundays,
says
volunteer Kate Haug.

“We
really
see
Sunday as a day where you could program for working adults and
families,” she says.

Haug
has
taken
a leading role in Friends, helping renew the group’s momentum and
widen
its reach.

Besides
pulling
together
the Halloween fair, Friends worked with organizers of San
Francisco’s annual literary celebration Litquake to bring a reading by
women
authors to the center on Oct. 7 (“Feminine Wiles,” 7 to 9 p.m.).

Haug
is
also
working to make the gardening days that happen every second
Saturday
amenable to families. She hopes to program an hour of music followed by
story
time.

“We’re
trying
to
make it easy for families to come and have one parent vol­unteer and
one enjoy the rec center,” she says.

Evidence
of
the
work by Ladybug Gardeners, as the Saturday group is known, can be
seen
in the new fencing, new birdhouses, and birdfeeders around the site.
The Oct. 9
Ladybug meeting will be held at 10 a.m. at Café XO, 1799 Church Street,
to
create a plan for the park to be presented to the city.

Haug
says
she
hopes park users will also start to recognize the potential of the
site as a rental. The main interior room has a stage, a sound system, a
movie
screen, and a kitchen.

“We
always
felt
as a group that it hasn’t been promoted enough,” Torre says.

The
Friends
website
has instructions and a link to the Rec and Park rental
application. Meanwhile, neighborhood residents or merchants who’d like
to help
with the Halloween party should contact alexandra@noevalleyreccenter.com.

Upper
Noe
Recreation Center is located at 295 Day Street, at
Sanchez. The new hours are Tuesdays to Fridays, 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.,
and
Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Registration for Fall II activities starts
Oct. 2.
Visit
www.sfreconline.org or the rec center itself to register for any
class
across the city. Members of the public who are interested in suggesting
programs or serving on Upper Noe’s community recreation council are
encouraged
to call Joe Scott at 415-970-8061 or email him at joe.scott@sfgov.org
and copy Friends of Noe Valley Recreation Center at info@noevalleyreccenter.com.